Definition of mercy
It is not so easy to answer the question: “What is mercy?” The answer does not come immediately. And all because people think about various problems and ways to solve them, but they forget about the main thing.
Mercy is a manifestation of love for one's neighbor. This is what they say in many books. But your neighbors are not only relatives and friends, they are absolutely all the people who surround you. It is not necessary to show “love” feelings; basic respect for others is enough. And then the world will be transformed for you. And you will understand that your neighbor’s grandmother is not so nasty, and you can talk normally with the sellers at the market. Bring goodness to the world. We can also say that mercy is a kind of goodwill, a desire to help without demanding anything in return. These qualities are inherent in every person, you just need to find them in yourself.
Some people are sure that these are completely inappropriate characteristics, and no one needs them today. But it’s worth trying to be a little kinder, respect people and help them if they need it. And then you will notice that those around you respond in kind, the world around you will be transformed. Mercy is the path to the top.
Compassion in Literature
The essay “What is compassion?”, which students write in literature lessons, should contain examples of stories and novels in which it is described.
Thus, in Andreev’s story “Bite” two opposite principles are presented. The first of them is people who beat a stray dog, threw stones at it, laughed and drove it to complete madness. Kusaka is now afraid of people who don’t have a drop of pity. Another is a family who shelters an angry dog. People were able to see a kind heart behind the bristling muzzle and gave the animal hope that not all people had lost pity. “Bite” can be used as a basis to write a good essay. Mercy and compassion are fully revealed in her. In the story, the author shows what we should be like. This family is a stronghold of humanity and kindness. What is compassion? The definition lies behind the lines describing the act of generous people towards a dog.
Why is mercy needed?
To understand why mercy is necessary, it is worth understanding what is included in this concept. This quality can be called the highest manifestation of humanity. You don’t think about why we need love and friendship. Everything is clear. But the need for mercy is worth thinking about very seriously. But it is required in order to remain human.
It is useful to remember that there was still mercy in the war - this is an indisputable fact. Of course, this is not an unambiguous statement; there have been a variety of cases. But no one will deny that the soldiers did not kill women and children, even sometimes freed them, did not attack from behind, and gave their enemy a chance for medical care and rest. So why was there mercy in war, but in modern society there is almost none? It is worth thinking and paying attention to how many unpleasant events are happening in the world. You need to change the situation right now, and it’s better to start with yourself.
Mercy in literature
A. Vladimirov tells the story of his hero. The shepherd Nikolai Savushkin had a sick daughter. She had been very ill for the third year and was experiencing pain in her body. One day, seeing an antelope in the steppe, Savushkin realized that this was his only chance to help his daughter, because life-saving medicine could be made from the antelope’s horns. Savushkin with a gun decides to go into the ravine in search of the beast, but the hunt did not bring him the desired prey, since Savushkin saw its cub next to the antelope. The shepherd could not shoot because he understood that for the antelope this cub was as close and dear as his daughter was for him. He could not kill the parent and leave the child to perish in this cruel world.
Mercy is one of the most important guarantees for the survival of humanity as a species. But, alas, not everyone is given such a high feeling. Kindness of soul, pity, and compassion are ingrained in a person from childhood, including through the personal example of his parents. The formation of these qualities is also influenced by society, surrounding people, and friends.
What is compassion? An essay-reasoning, the basis of which will be Andreev’s story or Vladimirov’s story, will help to find the answer to this question.
What is compassion
To begin with, it is worth understanding that compassion is not pity, which is a momentary feeling. You might feel sorry for an abandoned puppy or kitten, or a wounded bird. To sympathize means to live with a person in his grief, to share it with him. For example, a person who cares for his close relative experiences improvements in his condition and new attacks of the disease with him. His poor condition literally affects the well-being of the one who has compassion. This feeling does not require any payment, gratitude, it is free. This is a kind of light that comes from within a person and warms the one who is consumed by grief. The feeling of compassion must be absolutely selfless. And only then will it become true and sincere.
Why is mercy important to a reasonable person?
For a wise person who clearly distinguishes between the eternal and the mortal, it is important to understand that mercy is a prerequisite for peace of mind, since a merciful person relieves himself of the huge burden of thinking about who deserves good and who deserves evil, who is guilty and who is right. Moreover, a benevolent attitude in itself not only helps to prevent conflicts, quarrels, strife, and so on, but also allows you to find friends and well-wishers, who in the absence of mercy could be enemies or simply nobody.
But even the very attitude of treating everyone as living beings with whom we are on the same level makes a person freer and happier. It does not matter whether it is a dog, a cow, a criminal, an ordinary person, a hero or a sage - all are equal on the basis that all are the eternal soul at their core. And such an attitude not only brings peace and tranquility, but also allows you to more clearly see both the spiritual nature of other beings and your own soul. And perceiving oneself from the point of view of the soul is one of the main achievements on the spiritual path .
Why is compassion needed?
We need compassion to the same extent as mercy. Don't you want to live in a world full of smiles, happiness, good mood? A person stricken with grief is unable to smile. Restore his faith in life - share his grief with him. The forces that will go into helping, fighting for the happiness of another person will return to you in double size. By doing good, a person feels a surge of cheerfulness and warmth. You can start transforming a gray, dull, insensitive world today, without delay.
What is pity and compassion in our society?
“Pity is our treasure,” wrote Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. After all, if people stop feeling sorry for the weak and those in need of help, then the world around us will simply become stale, dry up, become depraved and barren. Help, comfort, support - and the world will become a little kinder.
But, unfortunately, at present, pity and compassion mean nothing to many. Man is so selfish and self-centered that pity is beyond his understanding. Such a person will calmly observe the suffering of another person, will not offer help, and will pass by. “Not with me, and that’s okay”, “My house is on the edge” - these are his mottos in life.
Spiritually, our society is rotten to the core. We do not know how to sympathize, worry about loved ones, and do not know how to forgive. Someone else's grief is not our business at all.
Indeed, not everyone is ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. Only a truly kind and merciful person is able to show pity and lend a helping hand. Love for one's neighbor and mercy are the main problems that many famous writers touch on in their works.
What is justice
There is one more quality that a person and the world in which we live need – justice. In many textbooks and articles you can read that justice and mercy are completely opposite concepts. And you can agree with this. After all, how can you be fair but merciful? It turns out that it is possible.
Justice and mercy complement each other perfectly, but not all people remember this. For those who consider such a combination of qualities impossible, it will be useful to familiarize yourself with examples that prove the opposite. Sellers sold goods to people who did not have enough money in exchange for providing small services: washing the floor or arranging groceries. There can be a huge number of such situations, but there is only one conclusion - justice and mercy can coexist together.
How is mercy different from compassion?
Compassion and mercy are very similar to each other, but it cannot be said that they are so similar that following one principle you can safely ignore the other. The basis of mercy is the perception of another living being who is equally identical to oneself, having the same spiritual basis. The basis of compassion is the vision of suffering as evil, the release of which is good.
The basis of compassion is the renunciation of actions that bring suffering or deliverance from suffering.
The basis of mercy is an attitude towards another that would make the other person’s life better, happier.
Compassion is applied to those who are currently suffering or potentially will suffer . However, compassion cannot be applied to a happy person. Such an application of compassion will take the form of a fanatical attempt to do good, which in itself will bring trouble. Mercy is shown to everyone at all times - both to those who are happy and healthy and to those who suffer.
The combination of mercy and compassion leads to actions and attitudes towards others that self-evidently relieve suffering for all who come under the influence of these qualities. Compassion devoid of mercy will bring “good” to others, without realizing whether it will help or not, because it is important to simply solve some problem, although it may get worse. Mercy without compassion will show concern for the sufferer, but there may be no concrete action. Of course, most often, someone who sincerely wants to help is driven by both compassion and mercy, but the main difference between mercy and compassion is that compassion is shown only in relation to those who suffer or those who could potentially suffer, and mercy is shown in relation to everyone and always. But, again, these qualities are similar and if you have one, it becomes easier to follow the other rule.
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An example of the difference between compassion and mercy can be the attitude of a kshatriya warrior and a brahmana sage towards a criminal. The kshatriya will be compassionate towards those to whom the criminal has brought suffering and will try to save potential victims from him. Thus, compassion will manifest itself in killing the source of suffering. The very word kshatriya, which in Vedic culture denotes a warrior, means “deliverance from troubles.” The trouble is the criminal - he is not a person, he is a source of suffering, which means for the sake of justice he must be punished. The attitude of a brahmana is merciful, he will see in the criminal not a murderer, but a person who is deceived and suffering, which means he will try to guide him on the right path. To destroy not the person himself, but the true source of troubles is a sin in him.
From history we know many examples when in this way sinful and fallen people became righteous and atoned for their misdeeds. It is enough to remember who was the first to enter heaven after the crucifixion of Jesus. It was a repentant bandit.
But one should not be directly radical in the clear ideological division between compassion and mercy. It is only important to understand the difference and strive for both virtues. Compassion is manifested in action that will relieve suffering, and mercy is manifested in attitude that will prevent it. This is the difference between mercy and compassion.
Why is justice needed?
Justice is necessary to avoid chaos in the world. Every person should receive what he has achieved and what he deserves. People who live with justice know that they need to fight and go towards their goals in life, and not wait for a happy turn of fate until what they want comes to them. You should treat everyone around you fairly. Then the world will respond in kind - these are the natural laws of life. Justice presupposes honesty: one should not deceive or lie to people. It is worth remembering that, first of all, at these moments you are lying to yourself. Be honest with yourself first, and then with others.
Mercy as a path to joy
| Good Samaritan |
The Gospel description of the Last Judgment (see: Matt. 25: 31–46) contains a very important truth: justification or condemnation is carried out according to the principle of our attitude towards people, namely: whether we were merciful to others. By showing participation or, on the contrary, indifference to a suffering person - and every suffering person bears within himself the image of God - we thereby build our inner attitude towards God: “just as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew .25:40).
The Gospel, therefore, clearly testifies: whoever sees those in need and does not do everything in his power to provide help, deprives himself of hope for grace-filled communion with Christ. “Whoever misses the opportunity to do good,” explains St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, “not only loses the fruit of goodness, but also offends God. God sends someone in need to him, and he says: “Come later.” Although he speaks to man, it is the same as to God who sent him. God will find another good person, and the one who refuses will answer for himself.”
Mercy is the simplest way in which we can become like God. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). Not everyone is able to acquire prolonged, attentive prayer, endure fasts completely according to the Rule, acquire the deepest humility or meekness, have a prudent attitude towards life, or even more so, ascend to the heights of deification . And mercy towards others is available to everyone.
At the same time, when we talk about mercy, it is important to remember that the word “mercy” means not just an act, but a special spiritual disposition. Grace is empathy and compassion, a heartfelt desire to help someone in need. For the merciful, every sufferer is family and friends. Moreover, with true mercy, a person gives what is his to another and rejoices.
The Prologue relates how in one monastery the following pious custom was observed from ancient times. Every year on Maundy Thursday, the poor, widows, and orphans came to the monastery from all the surrounding places and took from the common property of the monks an established amount of wheat, a small amount of wine and honey, and five copper coins. So they spent the bright Resurrection of Christ without need and in joy.
One day there was a crop failure, and the price of bread rose enormously. Although the brethren had plenty of food supplies, they thought that the donors’ alms would stop during the crop failure, and suggested that the abbot on Maundy Thursday of this year break the pious custom and not give wheat to the needy. For a long time the virtuous abbot did not agree to the request of the brethren. “It is a sin to violate the statutes given to us by the holy founder of the monastery,” he said, “it is a sin not to hope that the Lord will nourish us.” But since the brethren resolutely declared that they did not want to feed others at the expense of themselves, he answered with spiritual sorrow: “Do as you wish.” And the poor, who came to the monastery with hope, returned from there with despair.
But on Holy Saturday the monastery cleric went to the granary to give out clean flour for bread for Easter. As soon as he opened the doors, he noticed a bad smell: all the wheat had rotted so much that all that remained was to throw it into the river. The brothers were surprised, regretted their action and did not know what to do; and the pious abbot, calmly looking at the spoiled bread, said: “Whoever breaks the commandment of the holy father, the founder of the monastery, does not trust in God’s Providence and does not have mercy on the poor, must certainly be punished for disobedience. You have spared five hundred measures and destroyed five thousand... From now on, know whether you should trust in God or in your barns.”
It is vain to think that you can be happy without helping others. There will never be joy in your heart if you turn away from your neighbors, refuse to help them and think only of yourself. Our soul thirsts for goodness and love not only from someone, it has a need to open up to people, to bring them light and warmth. Therefore, when you do good, you yourself become happy. A person who does not love his neighbors, who does not wish the best for other people, is a flawed person. And one more thing: this is a deeply unhappy person.
But even if we help the suffering person only because we see him as a pitiful creature, then our mercy is pagan. We throw a piece of bread to the animal when we see that it is hungry. But the holy righteous John of Kronstadt says: “Know that your alms are always insignificant in comparison with a person, this child of God.” Christian charity sees the image of God in the needy, even if trampled upon by earthly vicissitudes. This means that we have no right not to help.
Here it is important to understand that everyone who suffers grief is God’s chosen one, who is given the opportunity to bear his own cross in life, which perhaps we are not capable of. By helping such a person, we share his grief with him, but in the end we also become accomplices of God’s choice given to him.
Unfortunately, in life we constantly have to observe the opposite situation. We don't want to be kinder and more merciful to each other. They are always dissatisfied, irritated, and in relation to their neighbors they are precise in formalities: it’s impossible, it’s not allowed, it’s not allowed. Moreover, when we show hard-heartedness towards others, we often want and seek to be treated condescendingly and kindly. We are reluctant to meet our neighbors halfway even in small ways, and in our personal lives we strive to occupy a position in which others would be obliged to help us.
An acquaintance, the vice-rector of a theological seminary, told how, having assumed an administrative position, he was faced with the need to lead others. Actually, administrative work involves constant control, demands, and organizing others to work. The entire life of an administrative person turns into constant instructions to others what and how to do, into penalties: why didn’t you do it or did it wrong? This leaves an imprint on the personality. But one day, when he was filing an insurance claim in connection with damage to a car, he was informed by mobile phone that the student had agreed to sign the document with the rector, and in three hours he would board the train with the documents, and the rector unexpectedly left the seminary. The only one who can still sign is the vice-rector. But he sits in the insurance claims department and thinks about how to properly document the damage, which for some reason the police did not all record in the report. The distance between them is such that the student will still be late if he goes to him first. The right decision did not come immediately. Although it was evening and the vice-rector had a child with him who still had to prepare his homework, he decided to go to the station to meet the student at the train.
The seminarian was clearly late, and, standing on the platform, my friend began to pray intensely for the Lord to help. There were only a few minutes left before departure. He bought a fountain pen, which, as always at such moments, was not in his briefcase, so he could immediately sign the document. A miracle did not happen - the train left. The student came running only three minutes later, but during this time the vice-rector managed to think through what to do so that the student would not be shocked. He immediately took him to hand over his ticket. I immediately found out that in two hours there was another train in the same direction. Surprisingly, only one seat was free. I had to add money to buy a ticket. But in the end everything was resolved successfully. This means that the Lord helps us in everyday situations, but especially helps us when we ourselves strive to participate in the lives of our neighbors.
The author of these lines knows many priests who help others free of charge. And these priests always experience joy, as if they were not giving, but acquiring themselves. Mercy always brings with it breadth and spaciousness to the soul; the merciful person leaves the narrow framework of internal self-isolation, finds freedom and joy of the heart in the good done for others, while selfishness always impoverishes life.
An egoist, like a thief, hides from others in order to snatch only for himself - he is unhappy and pathetic in his self-interest and, like a mole, digs holes in earthly things, away from the light, as if trying in advance to equip his own grave with accumulations.
But man is a creature with such deep spiritual needs that cannot be satisfied by self-interest. The possession of earthly treasures will never give happiness to anyone if they are not shared with their neighbors. This truth is expressed by St. Maximus the Confessor: “What is mine is what I give to others.” Because the heart rejoices only by opening up to others, and not by closing in on itself. Our famous fabulist Ivan Andreevich Krylov presented this figuratively in the fable “The Hind and the Dervish,” concluding:
Thus, true goodness does good without any reward: He who is good finds excesses a burden to him, unless he shares them with his neighbor.
The soul cannot be happy without mercy. The heart of each of us thirsts for good and wants to do good, even if we do not always understand this with our sinful minds. Already in the very act of doing good, a person partly tastes heavenly bliss. A person with a merciful heart becomes spiritually rich, and therefore he perceives life more fully and vividly.
There are people who, according to the word of Scripture, “will not sleep unless they do evil” (Proverbs 4:16). But there are also people who cannot sleep if they have not done good to someone. Among the saints who became famous for their special concern for the poor, the Patriarch of Alexandria John, nicknamed the Merciful, enjoys the greatest veneration. He spent all his money on helping the unfortunate, remaining himself in extreme poverty. Once, a noble resident of Alexandria gave him an expensive blanket, asking him to make use of this gift. Indeed, Saint John covered himself with a blanket at night, but the thought that it would be possible to help the unfortunate with expensive things did not give him peace. In the morning, John sent the blanket to be sold and distributed the proceeds to the poor. The donor saw his blanket in the market, bought it and brought it back to St. John. But the saint of God did the same thing before evening, in order to fall asleep peacefully. When the donor brought the blanket for the third time, Saint John said: “I will always sell this thing that is unnecessary to me; We’ll see who is the first of us to stop doing his own thing.”
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov once correctly said: “It is necessary that behind the door of every contented, happy person there should be someone standing with a hammer and constantly reminding them with a knock that there are unfortunate people, that, no matter how happy he is, life will sooner or later show he has his own claws, trouble will befall him - illness, poverty, loss, and no one will see or hear him, just as now he does not see or hear others.”
Who will remind every person behind the door of the soul with his knock of the need to do mercy? This should be, first of all, our conscience. The very essence of a person is determined by what he is like alone with his conscience.
But here is how the holy righteous John of Kronstadt warns us: “Be attentive to yourself when a poor person in need of help asks you for it: the enemy will try at this time to fill your heart with coldness, indifference and even disdain for the person in need; overcome these non-Christian and non-human dispositions in yourself, arouse in your heart compassionate love for a person similar to you in everything, and whatever the needy person asks you to do, fulfill his request to the best of your ability.”
N.V. Already in his school years, Gogol could not pass by a beggar without giving him some money. If there was nothing to give, he always said: “Sorry.” Once Gogol even remained in debt to a beggar woman. To her words: “Give for Christ’s sake,” he replied: “Count for me.” And the next time, when she turned to him with the same request, he gave her double, explaining: “This is my duty.”
In the Holy Scriptures, refusal to give alms is clearly viewed as a sin (see: Deut. 15: 7–9). And about alms itself it is said this way: when giving it, “your heart should not grieve” (Deut. 15: 10). “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). And although there are those who ask who have turned poverty into a craft, it is not our business every time to figure out where and why our alms will go. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7), says the Savior, without discussing any conventions.
In order to learn Christian charity, several rules can be proposed:
1. Serve a little, but with love. You don't have to give everything you have. Give at least a little, pinch yourself in small ways, but only without irritation towards the person: not brushing off the poor person like an annoying fly, but wishing him well.
2. Be sure to help those people whose poverty of life you know for sure - relatives, employees, acquaintances.
3. Do not judge beggars who beg for food, but, as it seems to you, would be able to work themselves or will allegedly use your alms for bad reasons. Everyone will answer for themselves.
4. Finally, do not give alms out of a desire for praise, for the sake of apparent prestige, ranking, or even just a report. Such people “already receive their reward” on earth, remaining without the reward of the Heavenly Father (see: Matt. 6: 1-2).
According to St. John Chrysostom, mercy has various images. There are works of physical mercy: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked or lacking necessary clothing, visiting the sick, welcoming a stranger into a home, etc. And there are spiritual works of mercy, which are as much higher as the soul is higher than the body. The works of spiritual mercy, for example, are as follows: to convert a sinner from error, to teach an unbeliever truth and goodness, to give good advice to a neighbor in difficulty or a danger he does not notice, to comfort the sad, not to repay evil with evil, to forgive offenses from the heart.
You can also help your neighbor with warm prayer for him. We don’t always have money with us, but prayer, as the holy fathers say, is always with us. Moreover, it is in vain to think that by providing only material assistance to another, you have fulfilled your Christian duty, as if you have bought yourself off from the demands of the Gospel. The Savior calls us to raise everyone to unity with God: “That they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21). Prayer paves the way to this.
Prayer unites, graciously binds together everyone for whom we say our prayers before the Lord. Therefore, prayer is an opportunity to do good to people always and everywhere.
In prayer there is no division into distant and close, into enemies and friends, because in the prayer requests of a Christian everyone is placed before the All-Seeing God, everyone is called to His eternal Kingdom.
But prayer is prayer only when it finds a response in the heart of the one praying, when the soul is burning with the desire to give others eternity, to ask the Lord for this priceless gift for others, and therefore prayer from the heart is always a triumph of love and goodness, it is the beginning of victory over hostile feelings, malice and hatred.
Prayer is asking for mercy from the Lord. To pray from the heart for someone means to feel someone else’s pain and reach out to the person in need, as if to take his burden, so that he himself can feel better.
So, many means to mercy are offered to us, and although the specific choice remains ours, one thing is certain: every step towards another, every good deed, alms, selfless help and prayer for others will find its justification, decorate the soul of a merciful person and make his life more joyful and happy.
